Chapter 31 The Talkative Swordsman and the Ice Sisters: A Battleground in Sunset Forest
The morning at Tianshui University is shrouded in a thin mist.
At the entrance of the secluded courtyard on the back hill, the full-time team had already assembled. After a year of refinement, everyone's aura had become more concentrated, but one person's style seemed to have undergone a complete transformation.
"Brother Feng! Brother Feng! Are we finally going out? Oh my god, I've been so bored this past year!"
A boy carrying an ice-blue longsword was jumping around Ye Feng, his mouth chattering like a machine gun.
"Do you think that big, clumsy bear is still in Sunset Forest? What if someone else snatches it away? By the way, Brother Feng, I discovered a new sword move yesterday while practicing. It's called 'Flying Immortal from Beyond the Heavens.' I haven't mastered it yet, but isn't the name cool? Also, Hu Yanli ate ten steamed buns this morning. I think he's going to get fat again. What if he can't find a wife if he keeps going like this?"
Ye Feng put one hand to his forehead, looking at Ye Shaotian in front of him with a look of utter despair.
Three years of academy life not only repaired Ye Shaotian's Ice Rain Sword, but also seemed to have damaged his brain—or rather, unlocked some strange seal. This guy has completely evolved from the cool, broken-sword-wielding boy of yesteryear into a super chatterbox who can talk the dead back to life and the living to death.
"Ye Shaotian." Ye Feng took a deep breath and smiled, "If you say another word, I'll have Hu Yanli sit on your lap until we reach Sunset Forest."
Hu Yanli, standing next to him, gave a friendly yet intimidating smile and patted his rock-solid belly.
Ye Shaotian instantly covered his mouth and made a zipping motion, but his eyes were still darting around, clearly feeling very uncomfortable.
"Okay, stop fooling around."
Mingyue, dressed in a blue outfit, walked in from outside the courtyard. Today, she had her long hair tied up, making her look capable and spirited. As the teacher leading the group, she carried a map in her hand.
"This trip to Sunset Forest is not only to help Ye Feng hunt for his third spirit ring, but also a practical test for your full-time team. However..." Mingyue paused, looking behind her, "two temporary team members will be joining this operation."
As Mingyue turned to the side, two stunningly beautiful figures came into view.
They were two girls wearing light blue school uniform skirts from Tianshui Academy. Even in Tianshui Academy, where beauties abound, they were the most dazzling presence.
The girl on the left is tall and slender, with long, icy blue hair cascading over her shoulders. Her face is aloof and otherworldly, like a goddess sculpted from ice and snow. She is Shui Bing'er, the leader of this year's class at Tianshui Academy.
The girl on the right appears more lively and charming, sharing a similar appearance with her sister, but with a more lively and alluring gaze, and a sweet smile playing on her lips. She is Shui Yue'er.
"Hello everyone! I'm Shui Yue'er, and this is my older sister, Shui Bing'er." Shui Yue'er waved generously, but her gaze was fixed on Ye Feng, her eyes sparkling with undisguised excitement. "Senior Ye Feng, I heard you're going to hunt for a ten-thousand-year soul ring? Could you show us around?"
Shui Bing'er, on the other hand, was much more reserved. She nodded slightly to everyone, her voice clear and melodious like jade beads falling on a plate: "Teacher Mingyue said that this mission has a high risk factor, and asked us to assist in controlling it. Please give me your guidance, Captain Ye..."
When the words "Captain Ye" were mentioned, the usually aloof Ice Phoenix's ears actually blushed slightly.
"snort!"
A cold snort filled with jealousy and hostility rang out.
Leng Qianqian, who had been standing next to Ye Feng, suddenly bristled her black cat ears. She stepped forward, standing between Ye Feng and the Shui sisters, hands on her hips, and raised her pointed chin.
"Who asked for your help? Our full-time team works together seamlessly and doesn't need outside interference!" Leng Qianqian stared at Shui Yue'er with hostility, like a wildcat guarding its food. "Besides, there are no senior students here, only my followers!"
"Oh dear, why are you being so fierce, Qianqian?" Shuiyue'er wasn't angry at all. Instead, she covered her mouth and chuckled, deliberately puffing out her chest, which was slightly fuller than Leng Qianqian's. "More people mean more strength. Besides, Brother Ye Feng hasn't said anything yet, why are you in such a hurry? Are you afraid we'll steal your thunder?"
"Who are you calling 'brother'?! Shameless!" Leng Qianqian's face turned red with anger.
"Alright, alright."
Ye Feng, who was in the center of the chaos, felt his scalp tingle and quickly stepped in to smooth things over, "Since it's Teacher Mingyue's arrangement, let's go together. Shui Bing'er and Shui Yue'er both have top-tier martial souls. With them joining, our control chain will be even more perfect."
He turned to the Shui sisters and smiled politely, "Welcome to the team."
That smile was like a gentle spring breeze.
Shui Bing'er hurriedly looked away, her heart pounding. Shui Yue'er, on the other hand, boldly winked: "Hehe, Brother Ye Feng is so understanding, unlike some little kittens who just get all worked up."
"You!" Leng Qianqian was so angry she wanted to bite someone, but in the end she could only stomp on Ye Feng's foot hard. "Hmph! Men are all big pigs!"
Ye Shaotian, who was standing next to him, couldn't hold back any longer. He pulled down the "zipper" from his mouth and blurted out at lightning speed:
"Wow! Is this the legendary battleground? Boss, you're amazing! On the left is the arrogant black cat, and on the right is the gentle ice phoenix and the passionate beauty. If they were to fight, wouldn't it be called 'Ice and Fire in One Heaven'? No, they're all ice-attribute, it's 'Extreme Cold Storm'! Lao Hu, who do you bet on to win? I bet on Leng Qianqian, after all, her bites are really painful..."
"Ye Shaotian!" the three women shouted in unison.
Ye Shaotian instantly shrank behind Hu Yanli's broad back: "I was wrong, I was wrong! I'll shut up, okay!"
...
Sunset Forest, outer area.
Unlike the perpetually bitter cold of the Misty Forest in the far north, the Sunset Forest has a more humid and hot climate, dense vegetation, and a faint miasma in the air.
A group of seven (a five-person team plus the Shui sisters) swiftly traversed the forest.
Ye Feng led the way, his Thousand Chance Umbrella in "rifle mode," scanning his surroundings warily. Hu Yanli brought up the rear, Ye Shaotian and Leng Qianqian protected the flanks, and the Shui sisters and Mingyue provided support from the center.
Over the past three years, Ye Feng has not only been cultivating, but has also taught everyone some special operations hand signals and tactics from his previous life.
"stop."
Ye Feng suddenly raised his hand and made a fist.
The group stopped abruptly and silently hid behind the bushes.
"What's wrong, Brother Feng? Is there a soul beast? How old is it? Can you eat it? Is it ugly?" Ye Shaotian lay in the grass, his mouth close to Ye Feng's ear, his voice low but still chattering away.
Ye Feng resisted the urge to kick him out and pointed to a swamp three hundred meters ahead.
"There's a group of cave spiders, about twenty in number, and the leader is a two-thousand-year-old one," Ye Feng calmly analyzed. "Although they're not our target, they're blocking our path."
"Only two thousand years? Let me handle that!"
Ye Shaotian's eyes lit up, and with a "whoosh," he drew the Ice Rain Sword from his back. After Ye Feng reforged and upgraded it with cold iron and refined gold, the sword was crystal clear, and an icy mist that would never dissipate swirled around its blade.
"I'm going too!" Leng Qianqian retorted, her figure flashing as she transformed into a black shadow and rushed out. "This young lady will not lose to that chatterbox!"
"Hey, hey, hey! Wait for me! What about the tactics? What about the teamwork?" Ye Feng sighed helplessly, rubbing his forehead.
The battle erupted instantly.
"Hey! Ugly spiders! Look this way! Your grandpa Ye Shaotian is here to give you a pedicure!"
Ye Shaotian charged into the spider swarm, his Ice Rain Sword flashing brilliantly.
"First Soul Skill: Falling Ice Rain!" "Second Soul Skill: Frosty Slash!"
Over the past three years, although Ye Shaotian has been talkative, his strength has indeed improved by leaps and bounds, and his soul power has reached level twenty-eight. Under Ye Feng's guidance, his swordsmanship has become extremely tricky and...annoying.
"Take this! To the left! Hehe, just kidding, it's to the right! Wow, you're spitting silk? How unhygienic! I'll cut off your leg and use it as chopsticks!"
While fighting, Ye Shaotian launched a high-intensity mental attack (talking). The cave spiders seemed to have been driven mad by this human's nagging, and they pounced on him recklessly.
"Idiot, don't lure all the monsters together!"
Leng Qianqian cursed, but her actions were perfectly coordinated. Taking advantage of the moment when Ye Shaotian was drawing aggro, she appeared behind the Demon Spider like a ghost.
Second Soul Skill: Netherworld Hundred Claws!
Black claws, accompanied by a piercing shriek that tore through the air, instantly reaped the lives of three century-old demonic spiders.
"Is this what teamwork in a full-time esports team looks like?"
Behind them, Shui Bing'er watched this scene, a hint of surprise flashing in her beautiful eyes. Although they seemed to be bickering, their positioning and complementarity were absolutely perfect.
"Let's not just sit idly by," Shui Bing'er said, looking at her younger sister.
"Alright! Ice Phoenix, take off!" Shui Yue'er laughed, her martial spirit manifesting.
An extremely cold aura instantly enveloped the entire area.
"First Soul Skill: Ice Seal!"
With a single finger, Shui Bing'er froze the two-thousand-year-old demonic spider leader, which was preparing to ambush Ye Shaotian, into an ice sculpture.
"Such strong control!" Ye Feng turned around and glanced at Shui Bing'er, meeting her clear eyes.
Shui Bing'er blushed and quickly turned her head away: "I just... don't want them to hurt everyone."
"Thanks!" Ye Feng raised his Thousand Chance Umbrella, and "Sniper Mode" was instantly activated.
"Bang!"
A charged soul energy bullet precisely shattered the ice sculpture and blew the head off the demon spider leader.
The battle ended in just two minutes.
Ye Shaotian sheathed his sword, flicked away imaginary blood, and struck what he thought was a very cool pose: "Sigh, how lonely it is to be invincible. These spiders are too weak, they didn't even give me a chance to recite a long poem. Qianqian, wasn't my 'Turning Back and Strike' move cool?"
"Handsome my foot! You almost stepped on my foot!" Leng Qianqian wiped the slime off her paws in disgust.
Shuiyue skipped over to Ye Feng and handed him a bottle of water: "Brother Ye Feng, that shot was so cool! Can that umbrella turn into a gun? I want to play with it too!"
"This is a man's romance, something girls can't do." Ye Feng smiled as he took the water, but then felt a sharp pain in his waist.
Leng Qianqian appeared behind him without him noticing, pinching his waist with her small hand: "Hmph! I'll play you to death!"
...
Night fell.
The group set up camp in a sheltered mountain hollow.
Thanks to Huyanli, this "human crane," the campsite was quickly set up. A campfire was lit, dispelling the chill of the forest.
Teacher Mingyue was studying a map in the tent, planning her route for tomorrow.
Young people sat together around the campfire.
"Come on, try my roasted wild boar leg, it's my secret recipe!" Hu Yanli said happily as he distributed the food.
Shui Bing'er took a piece of roasted meat, elegantly tore off a small strip and put it in her mouth, but her eyes kept drifting towards Ye Feng.
At this moment, Ye Feng was holding a whetstone, carefully maintaining the parts of the Thousand Chance Umbrella. The firelight illuminated his focused profile, and the serious charm of that man was like a deadly poison to a young girl just beginning to experience love.
"Captain Ye Feng," Shui Bing'er mustered her courage and asked softly, "Is the soul beast you're targeting this time really the legendary Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear? It's a terrifying soul beast known as the destroyer of the land. Even a seven-thousand-year-old cub is as strong as an ordinary ten-thousand-year-old soul beast, equivalent to a ten-thousand-year-old soul beast."
"That's right." Ye Feng stopped what he was doing and looked up at Shui Bing'er. "My Thousand Manifestations Umbrella needs the ultimate metal and power attributes to unlock a new form. And… I want to walk a path that no one has walked before."
"A path no one has walked before?" Shui Yue'er leaned closer, resting her chin on her hands, her face full of admiration. "Is it to become a god?"
"Pretty much," Ye Feng smiled.
"Tch, bragging." Leng Qianqian poured cold water on the idea, but secretly cut off the best part of her roast meat and put it in Ye Feng's bowl. "Eat your meat and shut your mouth."
Shui Yue'er happened to see this scene. Her eyes darted around, and she suddenly said, "Oh dear, Brother Ye Feng, my hands are sore and I can't cut the meat. Could you help me?"
As she spoke, she handed her plate to Ye Feng, leaning closer to him as she did so, a faint fragrance wafting over.
"Don't you have hands?!" Leng Qianqian instantly bristled, slapping Shui Yue'er's fork away. "If you want to eat, bite it yourself! Do you want me to chew it up for you and feed it to you?"
"Ugh~ How disgusting!" Shui Yue'er hid behind Ye Feng, making a face. "Brother Ye Feng, look, she's so fierce! She'll never get married!"
"Who are you calling unmarriageable?! I challenge you to a duel!"
"Come on, come on! Hee hee hee!"
The two girls chased each other around the campfire, their silvery laughter and shouts echoing through the camp.
While gnawing on a bone, Ye Shaotian shook his head and sighed, "What is love in this world that makes one crave roasted meat? Brother Feng, your luck with women is unparalleled. But seriously, Senior Shui Bing'er's gaze towards you is a bit strange. What's that called again? A tender look? A flirtatious glance? Look, look, she's blushing!"
Shui Bing'er, who had been sitting quietly the whole time, blushed instantly to the roots of her neck upon hearing this, and lowered her head in a panic: "You...you're talking nonsense!"
Ye Feng glared at Ye Shaotian helplessly: "Even food can't shut you up, huh?"
He glanced at the shy Shui Bing'er, and his heart stirred slightly. Unlike Leng Qianqian's arrogance and Shui Yue'er's boldness, Shui Bing'er's cold exterior but warm interior, gentle yet resilient personality was actually quite captivating.
"Get some rest." Ye Feng stood up. "We'll be entering the core area tomorrow, and the danger there will double. Shao Tian, you'll be on watch tonight."
"Huh? Why me?" Ye Shaotian screamed.
"Because you talk too much, you can annoy soul beasts to death."
Everyone burst into laughter.
The next morning, deep in the sunset forest.
As the group ventured deeper, the surrounding trees grew taller and the light became increasingly dim.
Suddenly, Ye Feng, who was walking at the front, stopped and his expression became more solemn than ever before.
"There's a big one."
He lowered his voice, and the Myriad Manifestations Umbrella in his hand instantly switched to "shield form".
"roar--!!!"
A deafening roar came from the bushes ahead. The terrifying sound, mixed with a foul stench, made everyone's clothes flutter wildly.
Immediately afterwards, a large tree, as thick as three people could hug, was snapped in half.
A giant bear, over four meters tall, covered in dark golden fur, with unusually long arms and fingertips that gleamed with a metallic sheen, emerged.
Its eyes were blood red, radiating a savage aura.
Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear!
Moreover, judging from its size and the golden sheen of its fur, it is definitely over six thousand years old, or even close to seven thousand years old!
"It really is it…" Mingyue took a deep breath, and her six spirit rings instantly lit up. "Everyone, step back! This bear's attack power is comparable to that of an ordinary ten-thousand-year-old spirit beast! Ye Feng, are you sure you want to choose it as your third spirit ring? This is playing with your life!"
Fortune favors the bold.
Ye Feng's eyes burned with a frenzied fighting spirit. Instead of retreating, he stepped forward and stood in front of all the girls.
"Full-time team, prepare for battle!"
"Huyan Li, hold on!" "Shao Tian, Qian Qian, cut its Achilles tendons!" "Shui Bing'er, Shui Yue'er, give me maximum control!" "Teacher Mingyue, please intervene only if we can't hold on any longer!"
"yes!"
"Oh my, this bear is really strong, even stronger than Huyan Li!" Ye Shaotian drew his Ice Rain Sword. Although he was still joking, his hand holding the sword was as steady as a rock. "Big bear, come and listen to this swordsman sing you a lullaby!"
"First Soul Skill: Falling Ice Rain!"
Battle is imminent!
Standing behind them, Shui Bing'er and Shui Yue'er looked at the back of the boy who was facing the terrifying beast alone with his back to them, and their admiration reached its peak at this moment.